For a fair number of people, 31 March has always been just another public holiday, but Freedom Day commemorates a significant moment in the development of Malta's political history: it was the first time Malta became independent de facto as well as de jure.
Today represents the 40th anniversary of the day the last British soldier left Malta's shores in 1979 - but to reach that point involved a process that had actually begun even before Malta gained its independence in 1964.
After the Break with Britain Resolution was signed between both the PN and MLP in 1957, it became clear that the two major parties saw independence as the best course of action for the country. Even though there was a certain element of disagreement across the political spectrum - both the PN and the MLP saw parties split from them as they were sceptical about independence - Malta became an independent country in 1964.
Even then, however, the two major parties disagreed on how independence had been obtained. The PN wanted to achieve independence and then join the Commonwealth, whilst also maintaining close ties with Britain through the signing of a financial aid and defence treaty. They were also in favour of joining NATO and taking the side of the West in the Cold War which, at the time, was at its peak.
The MLP, meanwhile, wanted to first achieve independence and then decide with whom to negotiate when it came to aid and defence issues. They preferred to work on a system of neutrality with regard to international politics, rather than joining either side of the Cold War.
With the PN's victory in the 1962 elections, when they won 25 seats out of 50 and secured a majority after the PDN's Coronato Attard crossed the house onto the PN's side, they had the mandate to obtain independence as they saw fit.
However, Dom Mintoff's MLP took umbrage at the type of independence that George Borg Olivier's PN had secured for Malta - in fact the MLP did not even believe that true independence had been achieved in 1964.
The MLP were mostly against three major points in the proposed independence Constitution. Firstly, they felt that the constitution was not sufficiently liberal when it came to religion. It should be noted that this period was characterised by a major conflict between Mintoff and Archbishop Michael Gonzi, whereby, in 1961, the Maltese Church issued an interdict on the entire Labour Party executive, making it a mortal sin to vote for the Party. Secondly, the MLP felt that the Defence Agreement signed between Malta and the British, which meant that British and NATO troops would remain on the island, went against the very concept of independence. Lastly, the party felt that the Financial Agreement which was secured between the two countries was not enough to support the needs of an independent country.
Despite the MLP's opposition, the Constitution was approved through a referendum and Malta became independent on 21 September 1964.
The country's first election as an independent nation took place in 1966, with the PN extending their majority - winning 28 seats against the MLP's 22. The Labour party had, however, made up a lot of ground from the previous elections: they gained 10 per cent in voting numbers while the PN had gained six per cent. The gains had come at the expense of Toni Pellegrini's Christian Workers' Party and Herbert Ganado's Democratic Nationalist's Party - both of whom lost the four seats they had won in 1962.
Neither party, in fact, contested the next election in 1971 and it was Mintoff's MLP who emerged victorious with the slimmest of margins - gaining 50.8 per cent of the vote compared with the PN's 48 per cent (Mabel Strickland's Progressive Constitutional Party obtained 1.1 per cent of the vote and independent candidates won the remaining 0.1 per cent).
One of the first things that Mintoff did as Prime Minister was to re-open negotiations with the British with regard to the Defence Agreement, with a view to amending the lease agreement between the two countries for the British to be able to use Malta's military facilities.
Mintoff knew full well that, while the British were down-sizing their military and naval involvement, they - along with NATO (and especially the US) - knew of the immense importance of Malta's geographical position, especially given the international geo-political scene. The Cold War situation made it essential that Malta' s military base did not come under the influence of the USSR or the emerging independent countries that made up the Non-Aligned Movement.
In fact, recent archival research has revealed that British Prime Minister Edward Heath was pressured by later-disgraced American President Richard Nixon to reach an agreement with Mintoff and - after nine months of negotiations - reach an agreement he did.
An agreement was signed extending the right of Britain to use Malta as a naval base for the next seven years. Mintoff did get a handsome sum of £14 million per year from the British, which contributed greatly to Malta's economic development through the 1970s.
On 31 March 1979, the last British forces left Malta on board the HMS London, bringing an end to a permanent military presence in the islands, and the Labour Party proclaiming it as 'Freedom Day'.
The public holiday is also synonymous with the regatta held in Grand Harbour - a hotly contested affair with a number of teams vying for the much-coveted aggregate Regatta Shield.
from The Malta Independent https://ift.tt/2FLlnRE
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